inexplicable
adjective · noun
Simple meaning
Impossible to explain.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
ihnuhksplisuhbuhlSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ɪnəkspˈlɪsəbəl
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
adjective
Impossible to explain; not easily accounted for.
noun
Something that is impossible to explain.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C2 · Proficient
- Frequency
- Uncommon
- Typical Use
- Primarily written
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Impossible to explain; not easily accounted for.
Used this way, inexplicable is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- No strong connotation
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use inexplicable
- “Inexplicable errors.”adjective
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Word family
Words built from the same root.
In a manner differing from the usual or expected.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: impossible to explain
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.